1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to painter's accessories, and more particularly, to a manually manipulatable guard or shield device which can be quickly placed over a surface to be masked so as to allow painting to proceed rapidly up to a precise boundary line of the masked area, with such paint guard or shielding device being conformable to substantially any desired shape in order that curved surfaces can be painted with equal benefit derived from the use of the paint guard device.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In painting, it is frequently necessary to cut in a particular painted area so that the boundary line of the area to be painted must follow carefully a predetermined line in order to avoid paint being inadvertently placed on adjacent areas or structures, resulting in an unsightly and unsatisfactory work product. For the purpose of cutting in paint in this fashion, a number of techniques have been used. For example, on window sashes at that point adjacent the location where the window pane engages the sash, it has sometimes been the practice to place masking tape over the window pane at the location where the pane enters the sash so that inadvertent placement of paint on the window pane is avoided. In other situations, a piece of cardboard having a relatively thin edge has been hand held at a location which is to be covered and shielded from paint, and the paint has been applied with a brush held in the other hand of the painter. This technique is tedious and time-consuming, and still requires substantial care and dexterity in the handling of the masking sheet of cardboard.
In the field of drafting and cartography, various devices have been provided previously to permit lines or marks of various types to be scribed on a surface in conformity with a preselected geometric pattern. Thus, various means have been provided for drawing French curves and other geometric shapes. In some instances, it has been proposed to permit the type of line or area which is to be demarcated to be selectively altered by providing an elongated ruler made of a bendable elastomeric material, and having embedded therein pieces of metal which have sufficient stiffness and rigidity that the ruler, when bent, will remain conformed to the shape into which it is bent until a restoring bending force is applied to it. In this way, the ruler can be used to draw a curved of predetermined configuration, and can be used many times for drawing different types of curves. Generally, the configuration of devices of this sort has been substantially that of a conventional ruler or yardstick. Examples of device which may be termed flexible rulers are to be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,233,382; 3,526,965; 2,155,169; 1,147,722 and 1,122,595.